Fatal-fire site lacked permit

Updated 12:42 am, Saturday, August 18, 2012

Three men were killed in the late-night blaze, and one remains in critical condition at the The Amistad Residential Facility Wedensdsay. Paul Galvez describes his escape. Video by Henry Valadez Jr.

Media: San Antonio Express-News

The home in which four men perished and nine more narrowly escaped shouldn't have even been occupied, city officials said Friday.

Nancy Murrah, owner of the Amistad Residential Facility that went up in flames Wednesday, did not have a certificate of occupancy, which is required for commercial buildings — including assisted living facilities and boarding homes.

Investigators examine the charred front door of a residence on the 300 block of West Norwood Court that burned Wednesday night. Three men died in the blaze and another man is in critical condition. (Thursday

Nancy Murrah, owner of the Amistad Residential Facility, speaks with reporters and photographers the day after the fatal fire on Norwood Court. Four people died in the fire. (Thursday August 16, 2012) John

A house fire that took the lives of four men has prompted the city to address regulation of homes for the mentally ill.

A house fire that took the lives of four men has prompted the city to address regulation of homes for the mentally ill.

Photo: Courtesy Photo

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San Antonio EMS paramedics transport a victim from residence on the 300 block of West Norwood. A fire broke out late Wednesday night August 15, 2012. Three men with alleged mental disabilities died in the blaze and another person is in critical condition .Courtesy photo/Henry Valadez, Jr.

San Antonio EMS paramedics transport a victim from residence on the 300 block of West Norwood. A fire broke out late Wednesday night August 15, 2012. Three men with alleged mental disabilities died in the blaze

An investigation continues at a residence on the 300 block of West Norwood after a fire broke out late Wednesday night resulting in the deaths of three men with alleged mental disabilities. Another person is in

San Antonio Fire Chief Charles Hood speaks Thursday morning about a fire that broke out late Wednesday night on the 300 block of West Norwood that resulted in the deaths of three men. Another person is in

An investigator sifts through remnants at the scene of a fire on the 300 block of West Norwood Court Thursday August 16, 2012. The fire broke out Wednesday night and three people died. One other person is in

San Antonio Fire Chief Charles Hood speaks Thursday about a fire that broke out late Wednesday night on the 300 block of West Norwood that resulted in the deaths of three men. Another person is in critical

In response to the tragedy, City Manager Sheryl Sculley said Friday that an ordinance would be presented to the City Council within the next two months in an attempt to regulate these types of boarding homes.

Murrah, whose phone was not accepting messages Friday, ultimately was responsible for the condition of the home, Sculley said.

“But could we, should we, have done more? Yes. Has an ordinance taken too long? Yes,” the city manager said.

The city has had the ability to pass an ordinance that would allow it to license and regulate such homes since 2009, and took steps to do so last year.

It also had beefed up some zoning laws to regulate the number of residents in such homes. But complaints to the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department that the city is violating the Fair Housing Act prompted Bernard to stop current enforcement and slow efforts to create a broader ordinance.

The fire, which is under investigation by police, appears to have changed that stance.

‘A groundswell'

Just as it did with dangerous structures a few years ago, Sculley said the city now would systematically seek out boarding homes that are violating existing city codes by putting out the word to police, code enforcement and neighborhood associations.

“I'll bet it's going to be a groundswell,” she said.

It's unknown just how many unregulated boarding homes operate in San Antonio.

They exist primarily as low-income housing for the very poor elderly and disabled; most pay with Social Security or disability checks.

Before the state dropped the licensing requirement, Amistad had been investigated five times beginning in 2009, with multiple violations, including abuse and neglect, fire alarm and sprinkler systems, exploitation of clients, medication administration and infection control.

The facility at 309 W. Norwood Court always had corrected the problems, said a spokeswoman with the Texas Department of Aging and Disability.

Unlike assisted living facilities, boarding homes never have been licensed or regulated by the state, and only are investigated when complaints are lodged, according to the study, which was part of legislation passed in 2007 by Rep. José Menéndez,who sought to have the state begin regulating them.

Then-District 2 City Councilwoman Sheila McNeil had contacted Menéndez the year before seeking help with the many unlicensed group homes in her district.

Her complaints then echoed those of neighbors about Amistad, which prompted 132 police calls since 2007, mostly for disturbances.

Code enforcement was called to Amistad more than a year ago, with neighbors complaining that Murrah had begun an addition without permits. The city ordered her to stop and get a permit, but she never did. The addition remained, half-finished and covered in black tarp.

The code officer who halted the work didn't realize it was a boarding house, city officials said, and so the lack of a certificate of occupancy wasn't discovered.

“This is a high-profit business with no regulation,” said Nick Monreal Jr., who oversees assisted living facilities and nursing homes for the Alamo Area Council of Governments. “And as baby boomers continue to age, they're just going to keep growing.”

Menendez's 2007 effort stalled when his bill came with a $50 million price tag. State agencies balked at the cost of adding a new category of facility to regulate.

In response, the San Antonio state representative crafted legislation, passed in 2009, allowing cities and counties to pick up the slack.

So far, only El Paso and Dallas have created such regulations; Houston is in the process, as was San Antonio as recently as February of this year.

And while the law includes provisions allowing for fees and fines that would go toward administering the program, creating a new set of regulations over facility construction, safety conditions, criminal history checks and periodic monitoring would be a huge new cost to the city, Sculley said.

“I understand there could be as many as 250 of these things,” in San Antonio, she said. “How do we staff up and fund that?”

Beefing up code enforcement is one way, and coincidentally, Sculley has recommended adding five new inspectors and two new supervisors to the department in her proposed 2013 budget.

She said the city already had been working on ways to revamp the department and make it more efficient and responsive. Those efforts have now taken on a new urgency, she said.